


It Takes a Village...

by TheSlightlyEvilPooka



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Awesome Molly Hooper, Everyone helps Molly, Everyone helps Sherlock, F/M, I am not too old for tumblr!, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Insecure Sherlock, M/M, Mentions of established John/Mary, Mentions of established Mycroft/Greg, Molly Is Patient, Molly wants a favor from Sherlock, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poor Molly, Sherlock Being an Idiot, Sherlock Holmes and Feelings, Sherlock Is A Bit Not Good, Sherlock doesn't feel gifted, Sherlock is a Mess, Sherlock needs help, Tagging Is So Much Fun, don't want to spoiler in the tags, even if he doesn't know it, he feels cursed by his mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-08-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 07:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4658292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSlightlyEvilPooka/pseuds/TheSlightlyEvilPooka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Molly wants a favor from Sherlock. It is a big favor. Really really BIG! He owes her doesn't he? This is the story of how, with the help of friends and family, Sherlock comes to realize that maybe it isn't a matter of pay back. But a matter of living life instead of just surviving it.</p><p>(Slight rewrite on chapter one to clarify something)</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Takes a Village...

**Author's Note:**

> This is something that started nibbling on my toes a few months ago. It was a tenacious beast that simply would not let go. My personal head cannon has always been that Sherlock Holmes is a man who is insecure about a lot of things. Not the least of which is his intelligence. What the world sees as a gift he sees as a curse. Where the cry of the theoretical science world is "publish or die", for Sherlock that cry is "Solve puzzles or die." For him it is a biological imperative to solve crimes. If he was not solving them it is quite probable that he would be committing them.  
> So when his friend Molly Hooper comes to him with a specific request for his assistance with a biological imperative of her own what does he do? He panics of course. It takes his own personal village to help put him right.  
> And just as it takes his village to help him, I have my own village that helped me with this.  
> Thank you to lilsherlockian1975 for her hand holding and beta work. (side note: Any and all remaining errors are mine and mine alone. I don't share them. They are almost the only thing aside from bills that I own. So don't even try to take them away and give them to someone else!) Lil did more than hand hold and beta...she was a sounding board and the voice of reason when I wanted to chuck the whole idea into the trash.  
> Thank you to vonpeeps. My sister in England whom I have never met. She sat with me in the middle of my night (day for her) and offered a shoulder to cry on and a fist to punch mean people who said I was too old for tumblr.  
> Without these two lovely ladies I would likely be curled up in bed with a rabid plot bunny eating me slowly alive.  
> To the rest of my village on tumblr: Thank you all for your overwhelming support and inspiration. Having so many wonderful writers open their arms here and on tumblr and accept me into the group has been something new. There are not words. The idea that started out as a one-shot has blossomed into a story of unknown length under your influences.

It Takes a Village...To Support the Dective

“Why do all medical facilities smell the same? Do they get a discount on the air freshener if they buy it by the barrel?” Sherlock lifted his head and sniffed loudly again. “And it doesn’t even begin to cover the smell of the disinfectant they use.”  
Sitting next to him Molly gave another sigh, her third in ten minutes. Sherlock was bored and seemingly was not going to be able to just sit quietly. He had already commented on the lack of decent reading material. And her reminder that most of the people who visited this office were not interested in scientific literature just resulted in a huff and the comment. “Maybe if they were they wouldn’t need to use the services offered here.” He then proceeded to comment on the lack of proper time management. “Your appointment was for 2, it is already 2:05. You were on time you would think they would be too.”  
Molly was starting to regret allowing him to accompany her to the appointment. Truth be told, she had regretted it the moment the invitation had left her tongue. She had known him long enough to know that a visit to any clinic, let alone this one and the services it offered, would bore him. It didn’t help that he was not very keen of her decision to go through with this. Even if he did have a vested interest in what was going to happen on one of those exam beds, behind the doors, on the other side of the room. She should have come just come by herself. Ok, so they had recommended that she bring someone along for “moral support”. But she could have brought Mary, or even John. Hell, at this point even Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft, would have been a better choice.  
“Molly.” he waited until she turned to look at him. “You don’t have to do this you know.”  
“Sherlock. We have been over this, you agreed. You don’t have to be here, I can do this by myself.”  
“Molly,” His voice turned soft and his lips turned up. She recognized the behavior and was determined to put a stop to it.  
“No Sherlock. It isn’t going to work this time. You can’t just smile at me, throw a meaningless compliment or two at me and have me change my plans.” when he opened his mouth to interrupt she pointed a finger at his nose and continued. “If you don’t want to be here fine, if you don’t want to have anything to do with this, fine. But I am going back there when they call me and I am going to finish what I started. You are welcome to leave if you can’t support me on this. Now I am done discussing this with you.”  
She was saved listening to whatever it was he was going to say when a nurse dressed in the same soft lavender scrubs that all the employees at this clinic wore as their uniform opened the door and called her name. “Stay or leave your choice. This should take about an hour. It is ok if you want to head back to Baker St. I can get home on my own.” She stood and slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder with more forces than necessary, then started toward the nurse.  
“I’ll see you in an hour Molly.” Sherlock sounded like he was really trying. And to be fair, Molly knew that just being here was difficult for him. What she was about to do had taken the combined forces of all of his friends and family to convince him that it was not the wrong thing to do…even if he didn’t fully believe it himself he was allowing himself to be influenced by those around him. Something Molly was sure she had never seen before. And she was not sure she had ever expected to get his support for this. But there he was, sitting in a clinic designed to appeal to women, waiting for her to finish receiving a procedure he didn’t approve of. No wonder she was still in love with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

As soon as the door closed behind Molly, Sherlock jumped up from the seat as if it had grown teeth. He quickly exited the building and pulled out his package of cigarettes. With only a passing thought to the disapproval Molly would show he lit one. Before he could think about it, his phone was in his hand and was making noise that indicated he had placed a call. Yes, a call, not a text but Sherlock Holmes, the man who might as well have disabled the call feature on his phone for how often he used it, had placed a call. This was surely one of the signs of the apocalypse. Then a voice came over the line.  
"What has he done this time?"  
Sherlock rolls his eyes "Hello to you too brother."  
"Sherlock? You never call. You don’t like to talk on the phone. I don’t remember the last time you called. Well actually I do of course, but that is beside the point. What has happened to make you call me, brother mine?"  
"Molly is in with the doctor."  
There was a sigh from the other end of the line. "And you are concerned that this is not right. Sherlock, we have discussed this. You know it is what is best for everyone involved." Sherlock heard the soft click clack of computer keys then what sounded like a laptop being closed.  
"Did I call at an inconvenient time? I am sorry that I bothered you with my little problems Mycroft. I will leave you to go to your meeting."  
"Don't be more obtuse than you usually are Sherlock. I was just sending Anthea to the meeting and contacting my driver. I will be there in 10 minutes." He paused. "If you had told me earlier I would have been there when you and Dr. Hooper arrived."  
"Why?"  
Again there was a sigh. "I told you weeks ago that I would do everything I could to help with this. Regardless of what you think, Sherlock, you are my brother and I have always helped."  
"No, you have always done what you want." Sherlock paused, then let out a sigh and tossed the cigarette into the bin intended to extinguish it. "Not that I could stop you if I wanted to. I am at..."  
"I know where you are brother, 9 minutes." There was the sound of a car door closing. "Do try not to cause a scene before I get there. Gregory is on his way as well, and I am sure he will want to take pictures or a video of your melt-down." The line went dead and left the consulting detective standing on the sidewalk wondering what illness could cause him to contact his brother today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Mycroft was the first to arrive. The anonymous black car disappearing into traffic seconds after its passenger closed the door behind him. As he walked over to the corner of the building that Sherlock was currently leaning against two men stepped around the corner from the parking lot. Sherlock looks from his brother to the men and straightens.  
"Really? I assure you there is no need for an intervention. John what are you doing here?" His eyes narrow as he looks at his best friend. "You live half an hour away, Lestrade didn't pick you up from home." Turning his stare to the DI standing next to John. "And you never wear denim to the yard. You weren’t at work." His glare moves back to his brother again. "You knew the appointment was this morning didn't you? You set it up so that the three of you would be here to harass me."  
John reached out to put his hand on his friends shoulder only to have said shoulder jerked away. "Sherlock calm down, Okay? When Molly told us the appointment was today and that you insisted on going with her we thought it would be nice if we were available to be here for you."  
Sherlock replied with venom. "Oh really? Well I don't need you." And rolled his eyes again. "And I am not high nor do I have any desire to get high. As I said an intervention today, or any time, is not necessary." He swiftly turned to his brother. "I didn't ask you to come here."  
"You called me."  
"Yes. And I learned my lesson. Don't call my brother. Got it. Now take your boyfriend and leave since it seems you have all managed to arrange to have the day off. John can take Geoff's car. “Sherlock spun around in the dramatic manner he had long ago mastered and started to stalk away.  
Greg spoke up for the first time since the group had formed. "Sherlock, come on mate, we just thought it might be nice to go have a pint. Not every day a bloke like you becomes a dad."  
Sherlock stiffened and slowly turned, his eyes leading the way his body following. "A bloke like me?" He repeated quietly. "And just what is that supposed to mean Detective Inspector?"  
“Sherlock,” Greg slipped off his sunglasses and looked directly into the face of his friend. “It was not that long ago that you came to us for help in deciding to do this.”  
Sherlock glared, “I didn’t come to anyone for help. Molly went to you to have you all try to convince me to do this. And I don’t know why I ever agreed.”  
“And that is why we are here. To take you out for a pint and help you remember why you think letting you friend, Molly, have this is a good thing.” It was John who answered.  
Sherlock looked over his shoulder. “I told Molly that I would be there when she came out.”  
Mycroft stepped next to his brother. “And you will be Brother, she will be in there for at least an hour. And she has promised to text me before she comes out.”  
This time Sherlock glared at his brother. “Still conspiring Mycroft?”  
“No, just making sure you are up to fulfilling your promise without panicking.”  
“I don’t panic.”  
John and Greg exchanged looks. “I don’t!” Sherlock denied.  
“Come on Mr. calm, cool and collected.” Greg took hold of one of Sherlock’s arms. “Let’s go have a drink then we can come back here and take Molly home, make sure she is fed and Mary can join us.”  
John nodded, “Mary is already at Molly’s flat making sure everything is set up. Molly is going to be out of sorts for a couple days. So we are taking care of you, then we come back and take care of Molly.”  
Sherlock followed but still muttered half under his breath. “There is no guarantee that it will take anyway. We will just go through this again in two months.”  
John took hold of the detectives other arm. “And we will be here then too. We will be here for you every time”  
“Except the collection. You’re on your own there mate.” laughed Greg. Mycroft followed behind the trio with a pleased look. He truly liked it when he could show concern and support for his brother without seeming too sentimental about it. Let the others be sentimental, he would just be supportive.

**Author's Note:**

> As noted up top; I am on tumblr. Same name. Come follow me for sneek peeks and brainstorming sessions. Or just drop me a line.


End file.
